HOMESTEAD, Fla. — James Buescher didn’t finish in the top 10 in the final three Camping World Truck Series races, but he won a battle of survival to capture the series title.

Buescher finished 13th in the season finale Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which would be good enough as long as Timothy Peters or Ty Dillon didn’t win the race nor lead a lap.

Neither of his two challengers won the race, which Cale Gale won in dramatic finish as he traded paint with Kyle Busch to win by 0.014 seconds.

Peters finished eighth and Dillon wrecked while racing for second to finish 25th, allowing Buescher, the 22-year-old Turner Motorsports driver, to finish with a six-point edge on Peters.

When Dillon wrecked with three laps left in the scheduled distance, he either had to win or needed Buescher to lose two more spots for Dillon to win the title.

“We were getting everything we could out of this (truck) and it wasn’t wanting to go forward,” Buescher said. “It was maxed out on speed, it was loose, it was sliding around and almost went into the fence myself.

“I held it together and everything came our way.”

Buescher had a 21-point lead with three races remaining and finishes of 11th, 17th and 13th in the final three races were good enough for the title as neither Peters nor Dillon could capitalize.